Memories Are Meant to be Forgotten
by xXUndiscoveredNovelistXx
Summary: Eames thought he could leave the past behind, but what happens when it comes back to haunt him? Set post-movie, E/A friendship, slight  if any  A/A, E/OC
1. Chapter 1

Eames sat at his desk studying the case file of the man they were to extract information from. It had been a long day of doing just that; well, nothing to him.

Sighing deeply, he tossed the file folder aside and reached into his pocket for his totem. Instead, he found a photograph.

The picture showed a woman, maybe twenty or twenty-five, with two little girls in her lap. They're all smiling brightly for the camera.

Eames stared at the photo for a long time, remembering what happened to them.

"Who are they?" Arthur's voice behind him startled him.

"N-no one," he answered automatically. There was a slight quiver in his voice only Arthur could hear.

Eames hurriedly shoved the photo into his pocket and went back to reading.

Arthur didn't bug him about it for the rest of the day, knowing that family is always a touchy subject around the forger.

But he noticed that Eames couldn't seem to hold his focus on Zeke Gellar; their current mark.

Later that night, as everyone was getting ready to leave, Ariadne spotted Eames looking at a photo almost sadly.

"Eames?" she asked softly.

"Yes, love?" He tried to keep his light-hearted joking demeanor, but could only flash a weak smile at the young architect.

"Can I ask who they are?"

There was a slight pause, and both of them could tell that everyone else wanted to know too. _You can't hide it forever,_ screamed Eames's conscience.

He sighed heavily. "They were my children. Charlie is three now, and Liv is five," he answered softly.

Eames shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"They're beautiful," Ariadne responded kindly. She knew something was off about him.

Arthur seemed to be the only one who noticed Eames's change in demeanor, at least to him.

"So good night everyone!" he called, trying to let Eames have his space.

"Good night," everyone mutters, walking out quietly.

There was a slight awkward silence as Arthur gathered up the rest of his stuff and Eames just sat there, fingering his totem and staring at the photograph.

"A car crash," he said.

"Excuse me?" Arthur said, surprised.

"A drunk driver; he killed Johanna…." Eames's voice trailed off.

Arthur paused, unsure about what to say. "I-I'm sorry, Eames," he said finally. He had never seen this side of the forger, hell, he didn't even know Eames had a family.

Hurriedly he left, and Eames still sat there.

He remembered that they were a happy family in London when Johanna died. He had no idea what to tell the kids when he got the call from the hospital, but then the nurse said that they were in the car with her, and were in a coma.

That was when his life fell apart before his eyes. For weeks on end, he did nothing. Everyone close to him felt him grow distant, and he lost contact with them altogether eventually.

Eames traveled to Mombasa and started gambling, trying to suppress those memories. Soon he met Cobb, and became the forger.

Being able to be someone else was a natural gift to him. It let him forget what he wanted to forget and put on a mask of seriousness, or humor, or whatever Cobb needed.

And in an instant that's all ruined. By one photo. One goddamn photo was all it took to bring back a tsunami of things that he didn't need.

Memories he didn't need. Things meant to be forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the feedback! I'm not making this slash, Arthur and Eames are just going to be bros. It'll be kinda 'bromantic' here and there.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I only own my OCs Everything else belongs to Chris Nolan (who is a genius!)

_You didn't save me!_ Eames woke up in a cold sweat. His wife's voice still rang out in his head; nowadays, the only dreams he had were nightmares. He wondered if his projection of her would turn out like Mal did.

Eames blindly felt around for his totem on the nightstand and flipped it up. It landed on the red side. Reality.

He wondered if Charlie and Liv were still in a coma. Sadly, he had given up any hope after two months, and hadn't seen them since. It was too painful seeing them so peacefully asleep, but with monitors hooked up to them, and wires sticking out of their arms. He hated hospitals.

Eames picked up the photo. _I miss you, Johanna,_ he thought.

"Does any body know where Eames is?" Yusuf asked. Everyone was at the warehouse but him.

"I'll go by his apartment to see if he's there," Ariadne offered, picking up her coat.

"Uh, he'll show up…Let's just give him some space," Arthur said. He realized that only he (and maybe Cobb) knew about what happened.

Yusuf shrugged and went back to his sedatives, Ariadne set her coat down, and Saito went back to reading.

Arthur was always looking out for Eames. Despite the fact that Eames constantly was insulting Arthur, it was only meant as playful banter, and the two were actually very good friends.

Eames stood just outside the door. A nurse was checking Liv's pulse and monitors.

He wasn't sure what to do, all he knew was that this was the right thing to do. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he thought he saw Liv's eyes flutter.

"Doctor Murphy!" called the nurse. "She's waking up!"

Eames and a tall brunette doctor ran into the room. Little Liv opened her eyes and looked around. "How are you, sweetie? Feeling okay?" asked Doctor Murphy.

"Dad!" Liv exclaimed, smiling.

Eames was overwhelmed. He smiled back and hugged her tightly. "Olivia, I'm so glad you woke up!" he whispered.

"Where's Mommy?" Liv asked, still smiling.

Cobb finally got sick of waiting for his forger to show up, so he asked Arthur to find him. "Check his apartment, then the bar by the river," he instructed.

At Eames's apartment, Arthur looked around for the Brit, but couldn't find him anywhere. He did however, find a note.

_Artie, I knew you'd come looking for me, acting like Cobb's minion…just so you know, I went to the hospital where my daughters are in a coma…here's the address:_

_St. Rita's Children's Hospital London, England _

_Not exactly sure on the street name, but it's by Simon's Pub you'll see it_

_I should be back late maybe ten or eleven Paris time_

_-eames _

He didn't capitalize his name, as usual. Arthur sensed that Eames might not be in his usual upbeat mood when he got back, but he went to London anyway.

A nurse led him to Liv and Charlie's room where Eames sat on Liv's bed with her on his lap. The two were laughing as he read her 'Green Eggs and Ham'.

Arthur couldn't help but smile a little bit at the sight. He was in the midst of turning around to leave, when Eames looked up from the book and spotted him.

"Artie! I knew you'd show up sooner or later, darling!" he called, gesturing for him to come in.

Slightly reluctantly, Arthur walked into the hospital room. He looked over to his left a little and saw Charlie, still sleeping. Quickly turning his attention to a smiling Liv, he sat down next to Eames.

"Liv, this is your Uncle Arthur. Be nice," he warned.

"Hello Liv." Arthur politely held out his hand. She gave him a high-five instead.

"Oh-kay….so, uh how do you like 'Green Eggs and Ham'?" he asked.

They all talked for a while, and Arthur immediately saw a miniature Eames in Olivia. (Especially when she said something about him 'having a stick up his arse'.)

Soon she was passed out though.

"I don't understand why she can still sleep. She's been sleeping for five months!" Eames said. He laughed slightly, but still seemed sad.

"Eames, she'll wake up," Arthur reassured.

"I know, but what about Charlie? She doesn't even know her mother's gone!"

"It'll be okay—"

"What if it isn't? What then Arthur? Bloody hell, I feel like an awful father. The once place where I work is the one place I can't get to them!" He sat down in a chair outside the room, frustratedly resting his elbows on his knees.

Arthur was at a loss for words; Eames was completely right. They were stuck sleeping and that's where they all work.

"Does Liv know?" he asked quietly, after a time.

Eames shook his head. "No, I didn't know how to tell her. When she asked, I just changed the subject and she let it go. Just like her mother. Johanna always knew when I didn't want to talk about something; she always just dropped the matter…"

Arthur pauses. He knew what he's about to do would probably get him in hot water with Cobb, but he was a good friend. "I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest, spend time with your daughters."

He was out the door before Eames could object.

_What is he doing?_ Eames thought. _Tonight's our test run, and Cobb will be furious with him!_

He wanted to say something, to stop Arthur from getting himself in trouble. But he couldn't, all he could do was mumble a small thank you as Arthur exited the hospital.

"You what?" Cobb exclaimed.

"I couldn't find him at all. I think we can do the test run with out him anyway, can't we Ariadne?" Arthur asked the architect.

She nodded. "Yeah, but it'd be better if Eames was here because it's his subconscious we're going into. We won't have the time to do another test run tomorrow, so we'll just have to trust him that he knows everything will work."

"How could you let this happen Arthur?" Cobb wasn't convinced.

"I looked everywhere you told me and even all around the city! What do you want me to do, search all of London too? Mombasa? Come on Cobb, this job isn't that important, you already have James and Philippa back, what's the big deal?" Arthur retorted. He had no idea why he was yelling, or where this sudden temper was coming from.

"Because, Zeke Gellar is Johanna's ex-husband."

What did you think? Intriguing? Please R&R! Feedback is loved! I'm one of those people who gets ecstatic when I get like, 2 review ;?) moustache man!


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes, I decided to make Zeke her ex, freaky right? Read on! **

"Ex-husband?" Arthur exclaimed. He was in complete shock.

"Don't act so surprised, you're the point man!" Saito said.

"I never knew until now!" Arthur's voice started to become high-pitched, like Sokka's* did whenever he yelled.

Saito stared at him, one eyebrow arched. "Really? Hmmm…" Saito went back to reading, not even bothering to finish his sentence.

"I'll finish that sentence for you, Saito," Ariadne said. "That's a new low, Arthur. Wouldn't marriage records come up first for most cases?"

"They got an annulment," Cobb interjected.

"Wouldn't that record still show up, though?" Ariadne asked.

Arthur sat down, he was so disappointed in himself. _How could I let this happen? Any records of that sort should be incredibly easy to find! _he thought frustratedly.

"They would, unless some mishap with the computer that held them," Arthur said. He fingered his totem in his pocket. For a second he thought something felt off about it, like the weight was half and ounce off, but he shook off the feeling and went back to his computer.

Across the English Channel, in St. Rita's Children's Hospital, Will Eames was in the midst of checking his youngest daughter out.

She was asleep in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. Or so he thought. Olivia Eames was really staring across the hallway into her sister's end of their room. Charlie lay still sleeping, her chest rising and falling as she breathed. _What happened? Why is she still asleep?_ Liv wondered.

"Thank you," she heard Eames whisper to the receptionist.

Liv still wondered what was going on all the car ride to Eames's apartment in London.

Meanwhile, in her father's head, Eames wondered about Charlie too. He hoped she'd wake up soon so they could pick up where their lives left off. Well, at least try to.

"Morning, Mr. Eames," Arthur whispered. He decided to drop by the forger's place to see if he was alright.

Eames was very upbeat and wide awake, despite the fact that it was 2 am.

"Arthur, it's 2 am, why are you here? And more importantly, how did you escape from Ariadne's clutches?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, letting himself in. "Just FYI, we are not together! That kiss meant nothing!"

"Sure, sure," the forger chided, smiling. "So anyway, why did you come by at bloody 2 am?"

"I just wanted to see if you made it home okay…" Arthur didn't want to make it seem like he was generally worried about his friend? He wasn't even sure what to call them; friends? Enemies? More like frenemies.

"Hm. Well, I'm fine, so you can report back to Cobb…"

There was an awkward pause. Arthur stood in the middle of the front room, not sure whether to leave, or make himself at home—something seemed off about Eames, maybe he wanted to talk about it.

In the end, he decided to leave.

"Just be careful, there are people out here who want us dead," warned Arthur. He was right of course, Eames and the team made plenty of enemies last time they were in his hometown.

Eames rolled his eyes at Artie. "Darling, I can take care of myself. Now, you can leave, and I'll see you tomorrow." He shoved the point man out the door rather hurriedly with out another word.

He hadn't wanted to leave Liv again, or at home alone (she was only three). So Eames decided to bring her along to work. (He figured Saito would just get another seat on the plane, seeing as it was _his_ airline.)

Eames was just escorting her out the door when he realised he'd forgotten his totem inside. "Wait here, love," he said to Liv, kissing her forehead.

She stood patiently at the doorway.

Eames ran back inside whistling and grabbed his poker chip off the coffee table without looking up and turned around. But he was stopped short by the sight of a hooded figure with a gun aimed at his forehead. He was staring down the barrel.

"Hello Will," said a female voice.

Outside, Liv was playing with the zipper on her jacket. Zip up, zip down, zip up, zip down. She was utterly fascinated.

Untill she heard the gunshot. "Daddy!" she screamed, running inside.

"Daddy?" No one was inside except her.

"Where the hell is he?" Cobb was beginning to grow impatient…again.

"Relax, he's just spending time with Liv," Arthur said casually.

"Liv is in a coma? Are you trying to tell us that he's gone off the deep end?" Ariadne answered.

"No, she woke up and he checked her out of the hospital yesterday." He stacked some manilla folders on his immaculate desk.

"You never said _any_ of that Arthur! You told us you couldn't find him!" Cobb and Ariadne shouted. They sounded pretty pissed off.

"Well I—"

"What else are you hiding?" they demanded.

"Nothing, that's it. I didn't know if Eames was planning on telling you guys, so I didn't. Now get off my back, Cobb," he growled at the extractor.

"Hm, well, we need him for this job so…Saito, can you go check his apartment—the one in London?" he asked Saito, nicely.

_What, so he's nice to him?_ Arthur thought angrily.

When Saito found an open door, he instinctively drew his gun. Had something happened to Eames? Or, god forbid, Liv?

His head swam with that sort of thought, until he heard sobbing. The tourist raced inside and found Liv standing in the middle of the front room crying. She clutched her cerulean stuffed platypus protectively.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, I'm Saito, a friend of your dad's," he said, kindly. Saito put his gun back into it's holster, so he wouldn't scare her.

Liv stopped crying for a moment to study him, contemplating whether to trust him or not. In the end, she did.

"Where's my daddy?" she sobbed.

He picked her up and surveyed the apartment. "I," Saito paused, unsure of what to say. How could he tell a three year old that her father—her only conscious family—was missing? "I don't know, Olivia."

**You guys will never suspect the awesome plot twist later on the story! Unless you can see the future, or read my mind! (stalkers!) Please review! It really brightens my day! (except flames, constructive criticism only **_**por favor, s'il vous plait, please!**_**)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Still intrigued? Please keep reading and reviewing! **

"Seriously? Missing?" Yusuf asked, clearly in disbelief.

"There weren't any signs of a struggle, but the kidnapper could have cleaned up after himself," Saito said. Liv was passed out on his shoulder.

"Or herself, you can't just make such a decision like that over no evidence!" Ariadne pointed out.

"Sure but have you seen Eames? He's not a small guy, I think it would have to be a pretty big _guy_ to take him down," Arthur said.

"Yeah, he's like as big as Bronson, in that movie a few years back," Yusuf said.

"That's what I was thinking!" Saito joked. He had no idea what they were talking about.

"Who's Bronson?" Ari asked cluelessly.

"Britain's most violent and famous prisoner. Totally psycho. They made a movie about him in 2009, and we think that Eames kind of has the same build as him," Arthur said.

"_Anyway,_" Cobb interjected, rolling his eyes. "We need a new forger."

Everyone went quiet. Arthur was the first one to break the silence.

"Can we focus on one problem at a time? We have Liv Eames here with nowhere to go! What are you suggesting, we just leave her here as we go on our next job?" he rose his voice, and stood up.

"We need to get this done, Arthur! Already we have a huge target painted on our backs from the Chanal Job; I don't think we need a bigger one!" Cobb shot back.

"Guys, stop!" Ari yelled, standing in between them, pushing them apart. "We don't need violence here! And besides," her voice dropped to a whisper. "You'll wake up Liv."

Saito had set her down on an empty lawn chair beside him and she hadn't moved.

"I need to go to 'Jacqui's'," Cobb said, grabbing his coat and walking around Arthur and Ariadne.

"What?" she asked.

"No, not 'Jacqui's'!" Arthur sighed, knowing there was no stopping Cobb.

"Ahh, Dom Cobb, I knew you'd come crawling back to me one day," said a brunette behind the bar's counter.

"Jacqui Smith, it's good to see you too," Cobb said. He took a seat at one of the barstools.

"Yeah, well you know what I say to that? I say, fuck off!" She splashed the martini she was making in his face.

"I need your help." Cob wiped off his face.

"I don't need your work! That line of work tore me apart, what makes you think I want to go back to that? Huh? What exactly?" she started to raise her voice at him.

"Look Jacqui, I just need your help for one job, only five hours. Then you can go back to your normal life," Cobb tried to reason.

"What's in it for me?" She was starting to come around, the allure of dreams pulling her into the good part of her past.

"Eames is missing, we need to find him after we do the extraction. Is that enough for you?" Cobb knew how much he'd meant to her in the past.

"What?" Her face washed over with grief, anger and pain. "Missing?"

"He was taken from his own home this morning. Liv is at our newest headquarters—"

"Well what about Charlie? And Johanna?" Jacqui was in, and both of them realised it.

"Charlie's…uh, she's in a coma, and Johanna's dead…she died a few months ago, Jac," Cobb said, sadly.

Tears came to Jacqui's bright green eyes. "Oh my…dead? What…and Charlie's in a coma?"

Cobb nodded.

He head swam, she was unable to form full thoughts; her best friend's family was nearly gone. Then it all came back to her. Why Eames became so distant, and why she never saw any of his family either.

"I loved Eames, but…I just can't go back. Dreams caused me so much pain. I don't want to relive that."

"Just one job, please—"

"I—" Jacqui paused, searching for the right words. "How much do you know about Johanna?"

"Just that she was Eames's wife until a drunk driver killed her."

"Yeah, her and Will had been fighting before. She left to take the kids to dinner, then her parents' house. And do you know what they were fighting about? Work! Will's job was interfering with his personal life! The kind of work you're doing just isn't good for people! I can't go into that again," she sighed heavily.

"But Johanna died before I first met him," Cobb pointed out.

"That doesn't mean he wasn't a forger. Trust me, I knew him long before you did. We got into dreamsharing and extraction fresh out of Oxford," Jacqui said. She dropped hi gaze and took a swig out of a bottle of vodka.

"Jacqui, I completely understand your pain—Mal went off the deep end last year—but, please, just do it for Eames, if nothing else. And," Cobb took a deep breath. He did not want to have to play this card. "And, you can probably get back at me for what 'my line of work did to you'."

The corners of Jacqui's red lips curled upward slightly. "Fine, but only for revenge and Eames."

"Thank you so much!" Cobb said, hugging her from the other side of the counter.

"You won't be thanking me later," she said, pushing him back. She ran to the door, but paused once she realised that Cobb was still sitting, fingering his totem.

"Let's go!"

Cobb took his new forger to HQ, it was only a fifteen minute cab ride from her bar.

"_This_ is your headquarters?" she exclaimed. "I drive past here everyday on my way to work!"

He merely nodded.

Once inside, Cobb introduced her to Saito, Yusuf and Ariadne (her and Arthur had previously met).

Ari and Arthur explained everything she needed to know: who she needed to be, what she needed to dream, and most importantly, why.

"Wait, who's the mark again?" she asked

"Zeke Gellar," Arthur answered. "He has info on Cobb and Saito that we need to extract so they don't get arrested. It's a long story, but Cobb was a wanted man last year. And Zeke is also—"

"Johanna's ex. I know, I recognised the name before," Jacqui finished, rolling her green eyes.

"Yeah, and so, let's do one last test run before we go," Ariadne suggested

Meanwhile, at the other side of the warehouse, Olivia Eames was dreaming. She dreamt about her father, and sister, but most of all, her mother.

Her and Johanna Eames were playing at her favorite park while Will and Charlie ate lunch on a bench nearby.

Jo pushed her on the swings and she laughed; this was one of her favorite memories. Off in the distance, out of the sandbox, Charlie smeared her sandwich on Eames's new shirt. "Hey!" he scolded, smiling. He took his own peanut butter and jelly sandwich, opened it up, and rubbed it on her hair.

The two took off running and it was a giant food fight. Liv jumped off the swing and took cover with her dad behind the slide.

"Daddy, you're all dirty!" she laughed gleefully.

"So will you be in a moment!" And then a glob of mayo hit the back of her head.

Everyone came out of their hiding places laughing and smiling. Johanna was covered in lettuce and jelly, Charlie was covered in nutella and marshmallows, and Eames and Liv were covered in everything in between.

The dream dissolved into blackness, but the image of her family's smiling faces still remained in her head.

**Did you like it? I felt like adding in Liv's dream. Oh, and the reference to Charlie Bronson, he's real, and there really was a movie with him and Tom Hardy did indeed play him. It's really good, I highly recommend it. **

**But enough about that, please REVIEW! Reviews= love, amor, amour, liefde, Liebe, gra, amore, cariad…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, I'm sorry that Eames wasn't really in Chapter Four; I promise he'll be in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: unfortunately, I don't have the creativity to create all this: Inception belongs to Chris Nolan, who is, in fact, a genius! **

Ariadne and Jacqui dropped off Liv with Uncle Miles before meeting up with everyone at the train station for the extraction.

"How do you know Eames?" Ari asked as they walked over to their compartment with Arthur.

"We go way back, he took me in when…I was having…hmm, how do I put this delicately? Troubled times in my life, yeah. We eventually went to Oxford together and got into extraction not soon after," Jacqui answered, not meeting her gaze. This subject had always been a touchy one, bringing back bad memories of her past. Life hadn't been kind to her. And discussing this with some one she hardly knew like Ariadne, made it no easier.

Ari nodded, dropping the subject. She turned to Arthur, next to Jacqui. "You know the plan?"

"Yep," he said. He felt himself start to blush a little bit.

"Can you review it for me one more time, Cobb got me confused halfway through, and I zoned out thinking of Eames," Ari admitted, blushing a bit herself.

"Oh brother," muttered Jacqui, rolling her eyes. Arthur took no note of it.

"Okay, so Cobb, Saito and you will break into Zeke's apartment looking for his info on them, while Jacqui and me distract him. His subconscious will see us as a threat, so we'll have them on our tails which gives you some time before they devour us and the dream collapses, got it?" Arthur took a deep breath.

The architect nodded slowly, after a time. "Got it."

Arthur tried to maintain his usual calm and collected composure, but he was slipping. Eames had been missing for only a day, but he felt as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He was so worried about him, missing a friend can really take it out of you, he was finding out.

But Arthur knew what Eames would say if he knew he was missing him: "_You _were missing _me? _ If you think I'm that gullible then you don't know me at all, darling."

Not even Ariadne's presence could cheer him up. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

Everyone was falling apart by the forger's disappearance. Especially Jacqui. "Excuse me," she muttered mindlessly as she got up and ran to the bathroom.

She ended up throwing up, not 'cause of Eames, but of motion sickness. _Stupid weak stomach!_ she thought miserably.

Jacqui splashed some cool water on her face. "Get a hold of yourself, Jacq!" she muttered. "It's just an extraction, you've done hundreds of them before. Not having Eames with you is nothing. He's fine, he's fine, he's fine." She kept trying to reassure herself, but nothing truly worked.

_Maybe it's just a nightmare!_ An ounce of hope resurfaced. Jacqui reached into her jacket pocket and took out her totem: an old emerald ring that showed her reflection clearly in reality.

She held it up to her eye….crystal clear. _Shit, this is real! _Panic set it, and she wasn't sure how she'd concentrate on one persona for a long period of time. Tears rolled down her face. _But you can't blow this, if you want to see Will again! _

Jacqui dried her face and wiped her tears away, exiting the tiny bathroom.

**Meanwhile….**

Will Eames woke up in a dark room, sitting up in an armchair. Thick metal clamps fastened down his wrists and feet, and so were his feet. "What the bloody hell is this?" he thought aloud.

Then he felt the IV in one of his wrists and suspected he wouldn't be conscious for much longer.

_Where am I? What happened to Liv?_ he thought frantically trying to free himself.

"Will, you woke up!" sang a light, whimsical voice somewhere off in the distance. Darkness really was deceiving.

"Who are you?" he asked. A lamp lit up a tiny space off at the other end of the room. In it sat a young blonde woman, about his age. He could see every aspect of her, except her face.

"Don't be silly! We've been married for six years!" she sang, laughing.

Eames's stomach dropped. He had to be dreaming, Jo was dead. Much as he hated to admit it, she was.

But this woman, she was so much like her. The way she laughed, the way she talked, the way she sat, even. It was frightening.

"No! You're not real! My Johanna is dead!" he called to her, still trying to jimmy a hand free. He needed his totem, and fast.

_If she's a projection, then you can control her. It's just your subconscious,_ he told himself. But he couldn't make her stop moving toward him. He couldn't do anything as she reached into his pocket herself and took out his totem and the photograph of his family.

"Good night dear," she whispered, kissing his cheek.

"Jo," Eames whispered back, fading into oblivion.

The woman looked at the photo and something inside her clicked. _Those children, the woman,_ said a voice in her head. _They aren't yours! You're not her!_

But she didn't care, that Johanna Eames was dead. She died in a traffic collision.

"He's out!" Ariadne mouthed to Cobb. She'd been spying on Zeke to see if he was asleep yet.

Apparently Arthur's research really paid off this time; he read that Zeke Gellar slept like the dead, once he was out, he was out for good, nothing, not even an earthquake could get him up.

They all piled into his compartment and turned on PASIV and were out soon too. Yusuf decided he'd stay behind on this one.

Cobb instructed Jacqui to dream up downtown Manhattan at night, that way the police offices would be near empty, and he thought that her chase diversion would be more fun in the dark.

"Meet up here soon, the sedatives should ware off in an hour here," Cobb reminded everyone.

Jacqui morphed into him and quickly spotted Zeke across the street, he was walking with a young blonde woman.

At first, Jacqui thought she resembled Johanna, but quickly shook it off.

Unfortunately, Arthur notices. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" She tries to play dumb.

"Does the blonde look familiar to you?" he asked.

_Of course he noticed, he's the point man!_ "Yeah, I thought she was Johanna, at first."

Arthur paused, his mind going to the worst possible scenario. _Eames knows the details of this extraction, if Johanna is like a rogue projectino like Mal, then this is all over! _

"Let's just get this all over with," he muttered, pulling her along to where Zeke and mystery blondie were.

Zeke was looking at a 'Wanted for Questioning' poster of Cobb and Saito when Jacqui (who was being Cobb) walked by casually whistling.

"There he is! Get him!" screamed the blonde.

Jacqui and Arthur took off running down the street, pushing people out of their way. Arthur led the way, even though it should have been Jacqui—it was her dream—but he was a good navigator.

She stole a glance over her shoulder. Now the woman was running in front of Zeke. Jacqui's stomach did a back flip. "Oh my god," she breathed.  
"It's her! It's Johanna!" she yelled to Arthur, a few paces ahead. He nodded, and pulled her up next to him.

"We have to create a diversion! Something bigger!" she said, quickly dropping his hand—she was still disguised as Cobb and it just seemed odd.

"Or we could just kill her," Arthur suggested.

**BAM! BAM! **

"Gunshots! Let's get outta here!" yelled both of them.

They pushed their legs faster, to put some distance between themselves and Zeke.

Out of nowhere, Arthur pulled her into a tiny little bakery and moved to the back of it.

He took off his leather jacket and switched it with some other one on a nearby chair. Jacqui turned back into herself and was about to switch her clothing, when she heard a commotion outside.

Arthur moved in front of her and blocked her view. He shielded her with the side of his new jacket. "Don't let them see us," he whispered.

"Duh!" she mouthed back.

The commotion moved on, and conversations commenced. Arthur put down the side of his jacket and Jacqui gasped.

Johanna and Zeke were at the door, gun aimed in their direction. Jacqui pushed Arthur out of the way and got shot instead. Just in her arm, but it hurt like hell.

"Jacqui!" Arthur yelled, he got up and pulled her out the back way, still running.

They ran for a while, then she had to stop. "I feel like I'm going to pass out from the pain," she breathed. "If this doesn't get done, then I'm going to have to shoot someone."

"It'll be fine." He tore off the sleeve of his jacket and tied it tightly around her wound.

"Thanks, now let's get moving, we need to put a lot of distance between us and them, but keep them occupied," she said, gritting her teeth.

Arthur nodded, helping her along gently. Above them, some buildings crumbled and people started to stare.

"Keep your concentration, Jacqui," said a familiar British voice next to her.

Jacqui whipped her head up and saw Eames, clear as daylight, running next to her.

"Wha-?" she started, in shock. "How are you here? Are you a projection?"

"'Course not, love. However, I've no idea why I'm here, I was kidnapped, that's all I know," he said.

Up above, on the train, Yusuf checked his watch. Only a few more minutes; "Hurry guys," he muttered.

"Cobb, I found it!" Ariadne hollered from one side of the apartment.

"You did?" he asked.

Saito took out his lighter, ready to burn the paper.

Ariadne opened it up and began reading. "'Dominic Cobb and Saito are—' she paused.

"Where's your last name, Saito?" she asked.

He shrugged, "That's irrelevant, keep reading."

"'…are wanted by the New York City Police Department for questioning. They are suspected of being in this country illegally,'" finished the architect.

"Sounds about right," Cobb and Saito agreed. They set the paper on the coffee table in the center of everything and lit the corners.

Soon it was reduced to a pile of ashes, and the trio fled the apartment, heading back to the original meeting spot.

"Eames, how can you be here if you're not a projection or hooked up to PASIV?" Arthur inquired. He wanted to be glad to see the forger, but he knew it was only a dream, and the reality was, was that Eames was missing and he had to face it.

"I don't know, Arthur! But I do know that my ex-wife's projection is chasing us, so let's move, mates!" he said, urging them on.

Johanna and Zeke got closer by a few steps. Close enough so that Arthur, Jacqui and Eames could see their facial expressions. Zeke was serious, intent on catching them, and Johanna was angry.

"Wow, exes working together, this is unusual," Jacqui said, her arm numbing from the tightness of Arthur's sleeve.

"Exes?" Eames asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Zeke Gellar, our mark, is Johanna's ex-husband from college," Jacqui said, slowly.

Eames's face dropped. "What?" he exclaimed.

They stopped running for a moment, concerned with the forger.

"You didn't know?" Jacqui screamed, horrified at what she just did to his mental state. Her best friend didn't need, another thing to know about his wife, who he needed to let go of.

"No, I—" but he was cut off when Johanna came up with a knife and plunged it into his side.

Jacqui and Arthur froze as she turned to them.

**What'd ya think? Any guesses on what happened with Eames? Reviews=love! **


	6. Chapter 6

**I just have to say how sorry I am for the much belated update. Teachers assign homework like we have no lives, and writer's block really was NOT helping! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I'm also sorry about Eames not being in CH5! he'll be here I promise. Inception belongs to Chris Nolan, blah, blah, blah…**

"_Happy Christmas everyone!" sang Johanna. It was Christmas morning and Charlie and Liv were running down the hall toward the tree, where Eames and Jo sat. _

_They plopped down onto Eames's lap and started devouring the gift wrap on their presents. _

"_A Hello Kitty doll!" Charlie shrieked with delight, hugging her mother and father in thanks. _

_Liv was having some technical difficulties getting her gift open and was on the brink of tears. _

"_Here Olivia, don't cry love," Eames said, tearing it himself. _

"_Legolas!" She had been wanting the Legolas Ken doll since June. Liv hugged her parents tightly then ran off with her sister to the sitting room. _

_Johanna and Will smiled at each other, pulling their gifts out from behind their backs. "Happy Christmas Will," Jo said, smiling brightly. _

"_Happy Christmas Johanna," Will said, winking. _

_They exchanged gifts and Will waited for Jo to open hers before he opened his. She ripped the green paper off the small box and opened it to find a beautiful aquamarine necklace, with little emeralds around the edges. _

"_Oh my gosh! This is so beautiful! Thank you so much," she said, hugging him tightly. "They match my eyes!" _

_Eames unwrapped his and opened it up to find a shiny silver handgun. "You know me so well, Jo," he said. He hugged her close and gave her a kiss. _

"_Well, open the rest, Will!" _

"_You mean there's more?" _

_Johanna nodded, laughing. _

_Eames took out the gun and the tissue paper under it to find a red restaurant table number with _18_ on it. "Our table number from our first date! How did you find this?" _

"_You're not the only person with connections around here, Will!" she said, winking. _

_Jo pulled him into another kiss. _

_This was one of the greatest Christmases ever. Jo and Will were so happy together, and they had two beautiful children. _

Eames had never experienced a memory when he was dreaming. But he couldn't wake up; he was stuck watching his life fall apart all over again.

"_We're home!" Jo yelled, leading Liv and Charlie through the door into the front room. _

_Eames came swaggering out with a bottle of whisky in one hand. "'Ello darlings!" _

"_Hey Daddy!" Liv and Charlie yelled, running to hug him. _

_Johanna glared at Eames, not moving from her spot. "Kids why don't you go play in the yard while I talk with your father!" she said kindly. _

"_What is it, love?" Eames took another swig of whiskey, nearly draining the bottle. _

"_You're drunk." She crossed her arms and sighed. "Why have you been drinking, Will? Is there something wrong?" _

"_Of course not!" He walked over to her and pulled her into a big kiss, right on the mouth. _

_Jo pushed him away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" _

_Eames finished the bottle, taking no note of her reaction. _

"_You know how much I hate it when you drink." She picked up her purse again and her wallet and keys. _

"_Where d'you think you're going?" Eames asked. He leaned on the wall to keep his balance. _

"_Kids we're going to visit Grandma!" Johanna called. She escorted the girls out the door, all the while staring at her husband with tears in her eyes. _

"_I'll see you when you're sober," she said as the door closed. _

Eames's memory flickered to later that night (or rather, early the next morning) when he got two phone calls. One from Jacqui:

"_Eames," she said, sniffling. _

"_Jacqui?" _

"_I got a call from the hospital, it was about Johanna and Charlie and Liv—" _

"_Hang on, I have another call." _

And one from the hospital.

"_Hello?" _

"_Mr. Eames?" asked a nurse on the other end. _

"_Yes? Is there something wrong?" _

"_We regret to inform you that your wife, Johanna, has just passed." _

_Eames almost dropped the phone, all he could think about was how he'd been drunk the last time they'd spoke. "H-how?" is all he could manage to say. _

"_She was killed in a traffic collision with a drunk driver, I'm afraid," answered the nurse. She didn't sound very sympathetic. _

_Eames hung up the phone and sat up in bed, unable to get up. _

"_Eames? Are you still there?" Jacqui's voice came from the phone. She sounded like she'd been crying recently. _

_He'd completely forgotten she was on the other line. "Where are you calling from?" he said mindlessly. _

_She sniffled. "The hospital, Charlie and Liv are in a coma, Will." _

_Eames could think straight, he felt his heart sink and he knew his life was over. _

Eames couldn't take it, he needed to wake up. If he experienced another memory as vivid as the last two, he was sure he was going to have to kill the fates.

He did wake up, except it was a bittersweet victory.

"Hello Will! You're awake again!" sang the familiar voice of his kidnapper.

Eames's stomach dropped, as she turned on a light, showing her face.

She had the near exact likeness of Johanna. Her cheekbones, her lips, her hair, her nose, her everything… except her eyes.

Johanna had unmistakable emerald green eyes that seemed to change color to aqua blue in some lighting. This woman didn't have that; she only had glacier blue eyes.

"You again! Who are you?" he demanded, still fighting his restraints.

She looked so familiar to him, he knew he'd seen her before but he couldn't pin point where exactly.

The woman laughed, it was one of the loveliest, musical sounds he'd ever heard, which just reinforced the fact that she was evil.

"It's me, Johanna!"

Then it hit him; she was Johanna's psychiatrist from the beginning of their marriage. Her brother, Robert, suggested Jo going there to get a prescription for her mild schizophrenia. It was getting slightly worse, and both Eames and Robert were starting to get worried.

Eames always knew there was something fishy about Dr. Elise Murphy from the first session.

"You're not Johanna, you're her doctor, Elise Murphy," he said.

Elise's face contorted with anger and she slapped him hard across the face. "_Don't you ever say that name again!_" she ordered; her hands balled up into fists.

_Ah, a weak point, maybe I can try to use that against her,_ Eames thought.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked, knowing he was pressing his luck.

"She ruined my life; and I hate her for it!" Then suddenly the anger washed away, and the whimsical persona came back. "Now, are you hungry? I can get something to eat if you like."

Eames was frozen, he couldn't even fathom what he'd just seen. It was all too bizarre. "Y-yeah," he finally said.

"I'll be right back, dear." Elise winked and walked out the door.

_I have to get out of this nightmare! How the hell is anyone supposed to find me if they know nothing about Johanna? _he thought, starting to panic. _And more importantly, what's going to happen to Charlie and Liv?_

The sedatives wore off just as Johanna's projection was slicing Jacqui's throat. She woke up panting and immediately ran back into her original compartment. Arthur and Ariadne soon followed.

"What happened?" asked the architect.

"The projection of my best friend's dead wife almost killed me and Arthur," Jacqui said. She kept checking her totem to make sure that was only a dream.

"Oh, sorry that happened, but how was she there in the first place?"

"We saw Eames; he wasn't a projection," Arthur answered. He wrapped a comforting arm around Jacqui's shoulders.

Ariadne's face dropped. "What? How was he in the dream if he wasn't hooked up to our machine?" She clearly was as surprised as they'd been.

"We have no idea, but now we know he's in trouble," Jacqui said. She was meeting no one's gaze.

"It'll be okay, we'll find him, I know we will," Arthur said, although he wasn't sure who he was trying to reassure more: himself or his old friend.

"I know we will, I'm just worried about Liv and Charlie, they'll grow up with out both parents!"

Arthur hadn't thought of that.

"Well we should start with background checks on all of his friends, allies, and the same with Johanna's allies and even her family. They could feel that he's responsible for her death and want some sort of revenge," suggested Ariadne.

Eames had completely forgotten about his pocket knife. If he somehow got it free, maybe he could use it to pick the locks for the metal clamps holding him captive.

Miraculously, he did get it free and was in the midst of picking the lock on his right hand when Elise came back in with a tray of drinks.

When she saw what he was doing she nearly dropped her tray. "_What_ are you _doing?" _she screamed.

"Uhhh, nothing, darling!" He tried to put on his 'messing with Arthur and Ariadne happy face'.

"Good!" Elise's face went from completely contorted with anger to happy and peppy once more. All the same, she snatched the knife away from him and tucked it into her skirt pocket.

When they finished their drinks, the tension could be cut with a spoon. It was a fine mix of terrifying, awkward, and sad. "Can you let me go?" he asked nicely.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"I have to go to the wash room," he said, smiling cutely.

"Oh, well sure, it's right down the hall to the left," Elise said, not hesitating. Eames was surprised she didn't hesitate. It almost seemed too good to be true.

But nevertheless, Eames had his chance. He ran down the hall and looked for an exit; which unfortunately was down the other end of the hall, and he'd have to pass right by Elise to get there.

_Bloody hell, I'm really in here for good, aren't I?_ he thought, rolling his eyes. _Dammit!_

Just then, he remembered his phone. It was in his front left pocket.

He dug it out and scrambled into the tiny little wash room and dialed Arthur's number.

It rang….and rang….and rang.

_Come on, come on! Pick up Artie! _he thought anxiously.

"H-hello?" Arthur's voice on the other line sounded hopeful, and sad.

"Arthur, I need your help. It's Eames, now I need you to find me. I'm with Dr. Elise Murphy, she's got a degree in psychology from Princeton, now hurry! I don't have much time—" He paused, hearing footsteps coming toward his location.

"Eames wait! Jacqui wants me to tell you that she loves you! Liv is okay and—"

But Arthur only heard the dial tone in response. It sent chills through his entire body.

He hoped to god that the forger was alright.

"What'd he say?" Ariadne asked cautiously.

"He's with Dr. Elise Murphy, somewhere. Then nothing," replied the point man absent mindedly.

Now he that he could identify his friend's kidnapper with a name, he was angry. He would find Eames and beat the shit out of Elise Murphy for what she did.

Jacqui wasn't faring much better. She was standing over in another end of the warehouse, pouring herself a gin and tonic when Arthur announced Elise's name. _Elise?_ she thought, completely outraged.

Jacqui threw the glass against the wall, then the bottles of gin and tonic.

"She was Johanna's psychiatrist, in the early stages of their marriage, and she totally envied Jo for being with Will," Jacqui answered, tears running silently down her face. She had been another person who'd suggested Jo go to a psychiatrist a few times a month, and now the guilt was coming back to bite her in the ass.

Cobb walked over to her. "Do you know where to find her?" he asked softly.

"In London," she answered simply.

Meanwhile, Eames had been cut off the phone by an injection of sedatives and was dreaming peacefully (if you could call it that).

He sat on a park bench next to Johanna's projection. That was where they first met.

"Why are you here?" he asked her.

"You miss me," Johanna answered. She scooted closer to him, placing her hand over his.

"You're not real. My Johanna is dead," Eames said, pulling his hand away.

"Charlie is here with me."

The words cut into Eames's heart worse than anything else, and he wakes up once again in a dark room.

**Please r&r! I will try to post more consistently, and the weekend is coming up, so I'll get going on chapter seven! ;D Thanks again for all your support! Reveiws are really the highlights of my day… :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Did you guys like that last chapter? Sorry again for it taking so long to be posted! **

**Disclaimer: the usual, I am not, nor will I ever be Christopher Nolan; who owns all of theses characters…drat…**

It felt like ice had been poured over his heart.

His little Charlie, gone from this world with out even turning eight.

Eames wished this was all a dream, and he could wake up at any minute and everything would be back to the way it was.

But it wasn't, and the reality of his wife and daughter being gone forever hit him. Eames stared into the darkness before him, tears rolling down his face.

A familiar voice pierced the silence, derailing his train of thought. "What's wrong dear?"

It was her, Elise, and Eames could tell that she had something bulky in her arms.

Elise flicked a switch and a light came on, illuminating everything in the room. To his horror, the "psychiatrist" carried Charlie in her arms. The little girl appeared to be fast asleep, but she looked rather pale.

Eames got up from the chair—surprised at first that he wasn't strapped in—and snatched his daughter out of Elise's arms.

"Charlie? It's your daddy, wake up dear," he said softly caressing her delicate face. It felt ice cold.

A lump in his throat started to form again as Charlie failed to wake up, or show any sign of life.

Eames slumped against a wall. _Why is this happening to me! _he thought angrily.

Elise walked over and knelt down next to him. "I brought Charlie back from day care, she wants to play with you, Will!" she said smiling.

The forger was in complete shock. Her delusions were so strong and vivid. And extreme.

_Arthur, please get here soon!_ he thought, anxiously.

"I just got a call from the hospital, some one checked Charlie out saying they were me," Jacqui said, in the van on their way to London. She went back to cleaning her gun.

"What? Who would do that?" Cobb asked, looking back at her from the passenger seat.

Jacqui nodded, not looking up from cleaning. "The only person with delusions strong enough to seem normal and composed, Elise Murphy."

"Can you elaborate on her?" asked Yusuf.

Jacqui sighed, holstering her gun. "She was the psychiatrist I recommended Johanna going to see when her delusions and hallucinations started to get worse. Will and her brother, Robert, wanted her to go, but they didn't know a good person to take her to, so they turned to me. I gave them the only name I knew, Elise Murphy, god do I regret that," Jacqui finished up, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Arthur sighed. "Don't worry, we'll get Charlie and Eames back."

"I know we will, it's just the trauma I'm worried Charlie will suffer. She's so young and you don't know how bad Elise's delusions are. She'll drown Charlie if she gives her a bath," Jacqui answered. She'd never been so apprehensive in her life, and of course the one time she is, the lives of her best friend and her goddaughter are on the line.

_Don't worry Eames, we're coming,_ Arthur thought. "Can't this car go any faster?"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Yusuf answered, speeding up a little bit.

Eames slumped against the wall, the body of his daughter cold in his arms. He wondered what else of his would be torn from this world. His friends, their families, Liv, Jacqui; the thought of living without any of them made him sick.

Eames cradled Charlie and rocked her back and forth, while Elise watched him smiling across the room.

Elise's smile really made him shudder, the way her lips pulled back from her teeth in a mad kind of way. She really was crazy, Eames could see it in her eyes.

Jacqui jumped out of the van before it fully stopped. She ran across the street and up to the front door of the white mansion.

Jacqui knew this place all too well, she'd been here about a thousand times, but this time it brought the sick feeling of nausea over her entire being.

She locked and loaded her gun and kicked down the door.

"So much for stealth," she heard Arthur mutter.

"Do you want to find Eames or not?" she shot back.

"Point taken, now let's move!" ordered the point man.

Jacqui raced in, anger boiling up inside her, she made her way down the stairs, and a hallway to the basement.

She passed the wash room, and framed pictures of Elise with her clients, and various diplomas, until she reached a brass doorknob.

Arthur stopped next to her. He gave her a look asking, 'is this it?'

Jacqui nodded. Cobb came up beside the two, and did not hesitate in kicking down the door himself. Jacqui suspected he wanted the satisfaction.

The door swung off its hinges to reveal a dark, and eerily quiet room. No light seemed to emanate from its corners.

In his mind, Johanna was there, she was watching over him and Charlie and Liv. Eames wished she was really here, though, not just in his dreams.

Consciously, he'd let her go—he was never in denial of her being dead—but subconsciously, he hadn't. Eames was sure she was in his dreams much more than he remembered, and it only made him so much more sad.

That's why he liked to be a forger, it let him put on a mask to hide his pain. No one seemed to question that.

"Eames? Are you in here?" called Jacqui and Arthur. They circled the room, flashlights revealing nothing more than an empty area with a tiny lamp in the corner.

"Next room," Arthur said, despondently.

Cobb nodded, with the same sad-yet-professional poker-face.

They tried the next room, and the same result: empty. The next one: empty. And the next one: still empty.

Jacqui felt on the verge of tears: out of anger and sadness. She feared the worst, Eames was dead along wit Charlie and Elise was using their dead bodies as life-sized dolls. It was sick and a taboo never to be broken in any culture.

The dead are supposed to be buried, and waited for in another life. That was that.

She knocked down the door purely by slamming her shoulder against it—which hurt like hell—but she found Eames.

Eames's face lit up at the sight of his colleagues. But his expression faded fast as Elise sprinted over to where Jacqui was, a butcher knife in her hand, and an insane expression on her face.

She plunged the knife deep into Jacqui's stomach before anyone could react and Jacqui collapsed, a trickle of blood dripping down the corner of her mouth.

A shot was fired.

**Almost the end, FYI. I have about a thousand ideas in my head, so you'll have to wait and see what I shall decide to start next. ;] Review please? **

**-Leaves**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I'm so sorry I haven't updated since October. You have no idea how severe my writer's block has been. So here's Chapter Eight. **

…

Jacqui saw everything in slow motion:

Elise's body as Arthur's bullet entered her chest, Eames run over to her, and the limp form of Charlie fall out of his arms. Jacqui shut her eyes, unable to see her goddaughter like this.

Eames was in distress, trying to keep Jacqui conscious and yelling for someone to call an ambulance.

"Wh-what happened?" Jacqui breathed.

"The ambulance is on its way," Arthur said from a different part of the room. Eames nodded.

"Ssh, Jacqui, it's okay. You've lost quite a bit of blood." He kept his hands pressed over the wound in her abdomen. "Everything's going to be alright, love." Eames smiled down at her as best as he could; he couldn't stand the thought of losing some one else he loved.

"Hold on, Jacqui," Arthur encouraged.

"It's just a damn—ow!—stab wound. I've had worse—" She sucked in a sharp breath of air.

The sounds of sirens were the last things Jacqui heard before she blacked out.

Apparently, the wound was deeper and worse than she thought—it sliced through parts of her intestines—and she would need to stay in the hospital for several nights so the doctors could keep an eye or two on her.

In the ER waiting room, Eames paced the floor nervously, while Cobb and Ariadne slept and Arthur read his book.

"Eames, she's going to be just fine," encouraged the point man.

"And how d'you know that? I've been kidnapped, my daughter is dead, so how to you suppose my best friend won't die too?" snapped the forger.

Arthur looked a little hurt.

"I-I'm sorry, darling. I just…" Eames trailed off, sitting down next to Ariadne.

"If you want to go home, I can stay here to watch over Jacqui. You should get back to Liv," Arthur suggested.

"Yes, I'd like that. Thank you Arthur," Eames said, looking a little relieved. He smiled weakly at Arthur as he walked out the door.

Early in the morning, Arthur saw Jacqui stirring a little bit in her bed. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straighter.

"Arthur," he heard her whisper shortly after.

Arthur rushed over to her side, taking her hand in his.

"Did it work? Are Eames and Liv okay?" she whispered.

"Yes, they're both fine. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm alright. Stab wounds are pretty bad, but not as painful as a bullet through the chest like in the Raine Job. What about the extraction? It seemed a little iffy…"

"It did, but Saito and Cobb are still going to lay low for a while." There was a pause.

"After this is all over, I'm going to go back to bartending, and you should go back to 'dreaming a little bigger'," Jacqui said, winking. She smiled in the dark.

Arthur gave her a puzzled look. "How…?"

"I know _everything_, Arthur."

"Good to have you back, Jacqui. At least for a little bit," Arthur said, kissing her hand. "D'you want me to call Eames to let him know you're okay?"

Jacqui shook her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. "Eames has enough on his plate, he needs his rest. And as for you, Arthur, I think you should go home too. I'll be fine for the rest of the night. Or, morning I guess," she said, glancing at the clock which read 2 am.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, now, go home." She started to push him away gently. "I'll see you later, Arthur."

In the weeks after that whole ordeal, Eames returned—slowly but surely—to his normal, fun, happy-go-lucky self.

He brought Liv to the workshop on a regular basis and she played with James and Philippa.

Arthur noticed the mood change in his friend right away. It made him happy to see Eames happy again after such a hard time in his life.

He walked into the workshop one day to find the team (plus James, Philippa, and Liv) seated around his desk at a tea party. Liv and Philippa were standing around the table pouring everyone their 'tea', while Ariadne handed out scones to them.

Eames' face lit right up when he saw Arthur. "Darling! Why don't you join us at our little tea party!" he exclaimed.

The point man rolled his eyes, when in actuality, he was very happy.

"Mr. Eames, I—"

"Uncle Arthur! You came!" Liv's high pitched squeal rang through the workshop as she ran over to hug Arthur's legs.

"Hi, Liv," Arthur said, ruffling her hair. He joined the party, sitting right in the middle of Eames and Ariadne.

"How are you doing?" asked the point man.

"Good, and you?" Eames answered.

"No, how are you doing?" he restates, emphasizing every word.

"Oh. I'm…dealing….Scone?"

Arthur takes one gladly, dropping the subject entirely.

Soon, Liv and Philippa were done serving, and sat down in their father's laps.

"Daddy," Liv started, looking up at her father.

"Yes love?"

"Where's Charlie and Mommy?"

Everyone grew quiet. Even James stopped laughing with Ariadne.

"They're with my mommy," Philippa piped up, giving her a smile. "Doing something fun. You'll see them again some day, don't worry."

"Okay! C'mon Phil, let's go play on the roof!" Liv exclaimed. The two girls ran off and Eames noticed Cobb, smiling slightly.

"Something wrong, Cobb?" Arthur asked, noticing him too.

"That's what I told her, when Mal dies. I didn't think she still remembered that."

"Kids can remember a lot," Arthur commented, while Eames remained quiet.

That night, when Eames was carrying a sleeping Liv home, Arthur fell into step next to him.

"Hello darling," Eames whispered, not meeting Arthur's gaze.

"Good evening, Mr. Eames. I had a lovely time a the tea party today," said the point man.

The forger smiled. "I'm glad you did."

They walked in silence for a few moments, enjoying the sunset warming their backs.

"Eames," Arthur started. "After all of what's happened, you seem to be holding up just fine."

Eames looked at Arthur and he found him hard to read.

"If you need anyone to talk to, I'm here," Arthur said.

"Thank you, Arthur," Eames whispered.

Right then, Liv started to stir. She opened her eyes and straightened up in her father's arms.

"Daddy," she mumbled. "What were you and Uncle Arthur talking about? Were you talking about Mommy?"

"'Course we were, sweetheart. We just miss them so much, Liv. But you and me are going to have so much fun together! Don't worry," Eames answered.

Arthur smiled, he loved how Eames could turn a bad situation into something lighter.

"See you tomorrow Eames. Bye Liv!" Arthur exclaimed, ruffling her hair, as he loved to do.

"Bye Uncle Arthur !" Liv said, and in return ruffled his hair. Arthur turned to the left and got into his car. He waved at them one more time before driving away.

**A/N: Well, that was a crappy ending. I couldn't think of any other way to do it, though…I dedicate this chapter to the wonderful Emily Hardy, she's stuck with me all through this story, even though we're overseas. :) **


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